Rajon Rondo

With the Celtics down 0-2 and in dire need of a win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Miami Heat, Rondo got tangled up with Dwyane Wade and landed awkwardly on his elbow which bent in a way it was not supposed to. The injury looked gruesome, and Celtics fans had to wonder if they would have to face the Heat without their point guard. But Rondo came back a few minutes later and played essentially with one arm the rest of the game. The Celtics rolled, 97-81, and Rondo tallied six points, 11 assists and a million Tommy points. Rondo also played 38 minutes with a heavy brace on his elbow in a loss to the Heat in Game 4.B.

Dustin Pedroia

On June 27 in San Francisco, Dustin Pedroia fouled a pitch off his left foot, fracturing a bone. Determined to come back, he practiced taking ground balls from his knees. He returned to the lineup Aug. 17, but the injury was not completely healed and the comeback lasted just two games. C.

Paul Pierce

At the 6:49 mark of the third quarter of Game 1 of the 2008 Finals at the Garden, Pierce went down awkwardly and clutched his knee immediately. The crowd went silent as Pierce was carted off in a wheelchair. However, as bad as the injury looked, he was back within minutes and knocked down two 3's to lead the Celtics to a Game 1 victory -- and eventually the series. D.

Tom Brady

One never would have known it by his performance -- he was a unanimous choice for league MVP -- but Brady played the 2010 season with a stress fracture that required a screw to be implanted into his right foot. He was first placed on the Patriots' injury report with a mysterious foot injury in November, meaning he played the second half of the season and the playoffs through the pain. E.

Curt Schilling

Schilling secured his permanent place in Red Sox lore with his performance on an injured right ankle during the 2004 postseason. After suffering a torn tendon sheath during Game 1 of the ALDS, he was roughed up by the Yankees in Game 1 of the ALDS. But an innovative surgical procedure stabilized the ankle and Schilling, his sutures famously bleeding through his sock, went on to win both Game 6 of the ALCS and Game 2 of the World Series. F.

Tony Conigliaro

On Aug. 18, 1967, the Red Sox were playing the Angels at Fenway Park. Conigliaro, batting against Jack Hamilton, was hit by a pitch on his left cheekbone, and was carried off the field on a stretcher. He sustained a broken cheekbone and severe damage to his left retina. A year and a half later, Conigliaro made a remarkable return, but he was forced to retire early in the 1975 season because his eyesight had been permanently damaged.G.

Bobby Orr

During the 1967-68 season, his second in the NHL, the dashing 19-year-old defenseman was limited to 46 games because of a right knee injury. It became a career-long problem for Orr, who endured more than a dozen knee operations during his playing days and retired at age 30 in 1979.H.

Drew Bledsoe

In Dec. 1998, Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe had surgery on his broken right index finger and had a pin inserted to give the finger stability. Bledsoe injured the finger in a dramatic last-minute victory over the Miami Dolphins on Nov. 23. Bledsoe played the next three games for New England, but he reinjured his finger against the Rams and was replaced by Scott Zolak for the final two games of the season. Bledsoe's finger would not be sufficiently healed in time to reclaim his starting job in the first round of the AFC playoffs and the Patriots lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars, 25-10.I.

Larry Bird

Larry Legend suffered a pair of significant injuries later in his career, signaling the decline of the Big Three and foreshadowing the franchise’s decline in the ‘90s. Bird’s 1988-89 season ended after just six games when he had surgery to remove bone spurs from both heels. Chronic back problems caused him to miss 59 combined games during the 1990-91 and 91-92 seasons and eventually led to his retirement. J.

John Havlicek

Havlicek suffered a right shoulder injury in Game 3 of the 1973 conference finals against the Knicks. The Celts went on to lose Game 4 in double overtime in New York, but went on to win Games 5 and 6 before losing the series by dropping Game 7. The Celtics were 68-14 during the '72-73 season and were considered the best team in the NBA that year before losing to the Knicks.K.

Kevin McHale

McHale, in 1987 in the midst of an outstanding season, had his season altered when the Suns' Larry Nance stepped on his foot and fractured it. Due to a misdiagnosis, McHale kept playing without knowing that he was playing on a broken foot. It wasn't until the first round of the playoffs that X-rays revealed the break. McHale continued playing anyway, averaging 21.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game on one foot. The injury hampered McHale for the rest of his career. L.

Cam Neely

In 1994, Cam Neely scored 50 goals in 49 games after being rested on alternate games due to a knee injury he suffered in the 1991 Conference Finals. The hit, delivered by Ulf Samuelsson, was considered dirty and would shorten Neely's career.M.

Pedro Martinez

Martinez, coming off one of the greatest pitching seasons in history, injured his back in Game 1 of the 1999 Divisional Series against the Indians. He was unable to throw for the next week. With the series knotted at 2-2, Martinez made a surprise relief appearance with the game tied at eight and stifled the Indians for six innings of no-hit ball. The Red Sox won the game 12-8 and advanced to the American League Championship series. N.

Rodney Harrison

Harrison broke his arm making a tackle late in the 2004 Super Bowl against the Panthers, stayed on the field for one more play ... and made the next tackle.

The question probably needs more context. But even still once the purpose is to single out one person as "the" most tough it gets cloudy to me.

One can argue the back pain that Larry Bird played with for 4 seasons made him toughest. But severity of Rondo's injury complete with ligament tears and bone chips floating in the elbow make it rather remarkable that he played with it. And how many people would have gone through an experimental surgical procedure on their ankle not once but twice in order to compete and then do so at a very high level?

Because of the severity of the injury and the fact that Rondo would not allow them to give him any drugs I'd say that was tough.

Schilling was down right couragous.

Bird with his back, Neely and Orr of single minded focus. And along those lines I think few people have any idea how much pain Pedro Martinez probably pitched with at an all-world level for years. Most believe the labrum and rotor cuff injuries incurred in 1999 for Pedey.

I'd have to go with Grogan. A guy with his body type had no business running the ball but he did, time after time, and that courage enabled him to be a winner when he had few other positive attributes as a player.

Bellsbury was really worried about turning his ankle, trying to avoid another baserunning blunder. He finished the game, so he can drop his FA contract worries for another game. The Grandy ball that hit short of the warning track was played with great safely. But if there is a time where he actually risks running into a padded wall to make the play, there is always a season of API to get him ready, again.

Yeah....I am not saying we wouldve even been close to beating the Bears, but I still wonder how close it wouldve been if they let Grogan play the whole Super Bowl. Funny how Tony Eason is never seen in these parts anymore when the Pats bring back old players for special events.

What does "toughest" mean? High pain threshold? Like Bob Gibson's leg being broken by a line drive, finishing the inning, collapsing, then out-pitching Boston and Lonborg in the WS?

Koufax' struggle to harness his huge talent...finally nails it from age 26-30....in agonising pain every day and retires at age 30 after a season going 27-9, 1.73. Damn, I'm in tears thinking about it.

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To me, courage isn't a man with a gun in his hand....and bravery isn't a woman that runs into her burning house to save HER children....it's someone that that runs into a stranger's house to save someone else's children.

My "toughest athlete in NE sports" is Bill Russell, for the same reason I idolise Jackie Robinson. Disgusted by the reality of their sport/culture/society, intelligent enough to realise that they had to "fit it" no matter the personal cost.